Ah chemistry!
Steffamarie responded and said it best.
Oh now I am really confused. :/
I'm a new soaper. You're the first person I've come across who wants a lye heavy soap. Why, because the oil was old? Is that going to stop the soap from going rancid?
Yes! To stop the soap from going bad, soaping with an excess of lye will ensure all oil particles get saponified.
Because I am unclear as to what the oil is, rough idea, not absolutely sure, I’m doing it at a slight excess, which does make a lye heavy soap.
I'm further confused because everything I've read here about a lye heavy soap stated that the soap had to be thrown out (80%) or rebatched (20%) ... of course, roughly speaking, but you get my drift.
Total misunderstanding about NaOH and how it reacts with CO2 in addition to oils, H2O, etc. Which is why NaOH is purchased in small quantities, because it reacts with CO2 and becomes another substance no longer doing the thing that NaOH does to make soap, because it’s no longer NaOH.
Last question is, how can the lye lessen over time if there are no materials, i,e., oils, to use the lye, i.e. saponify?
Yup! Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is what you get as a precipitate when sodium hydroxide reacts with carbon dioxide in the air. 2NaOH + CO2 -> Na2CO3 + H2O. The water evaporates off and leaves behind the Na2CO3 which you see on the surface of the bars!
If you are selling soap, this is probably not something you want to monkey around with, as yes, there might be some rebatching later on, but not necessarily. I don’t plan on keeping my beautifully swirled loaf, a beautiful swirled loaf. It may be months before I feel comfortable about scrubbing any portion of my body with a hunk of it. It depends on how much ash forms and when it stops forming crystals.
TBH, I unmolded it way too soon, I should have unmolded it today, as it’s firmed up and more solid instead of feeling like a really soft cheese. I got impatient
But there is no need to throw away a batch of soap because it’s lye heavy. It involves patience, a small understanding of chemistry, and willingness to use it yourself.
As you being new soaper, I recommend sticking to superfatting and in small soap batches, until you see how gel phase and non gel phase affect soap, etc. make a small batch of 0% SF for utility bars (laundry, cleaning, etc). Read every book on soap making. Read chemistry books. Pick up a chemistry kit and play with it.
Focus on the art side of soap after you get a solid understanding of the chemistry side of soap.
Happy soaping!